The Sydney Morning Herald logo
Advertisement

Wayside Inn

Dani Valent
Dani Valent

Suckling pig from Wayside Inn.
Suckling pig from Wayside Inn.Craig Sillitoe

Good Food hatGood Food hat16/20

Modern Australian$$

Wayside Inn  ★★★★
446 City Road, South Melbourne, 9682 9119
Licensed, AE MC V eftpos
Daily 11am-late
Entrees $10-$18; mains $28-$38; desserts $3-$12; bar menu $8-$24.

If I see the word ''rotisserie'' on a menu, I see it larger and bolder than every other word. When I'm hungry, the word flashes at me as though illuminated by marquee lights and, if I'm really ravenous, a stern ''We want you!'' apparition hovers in front of the R-word, making demands to which I'm only too happy to yield.

The Wayside has a red rotisserie gleaming in its open kitchen and each day a different meat is skewered and lovingly rotated, allowing the flesh to bathe in its own juices. The result is moist meat that tastes so overwhelmingly of itself, it doesn't need much tricking up.

Advertisement

Lamb, goat, sirloin, duck and venison are on the roster but it's hard to beat Friday's suckling pig, rolled and trussed, sticky and tender, with crackling that snaps like toffee and melts like caramel.

The rotisserie offering is a significant signpost to what the Wayside is all about: really good produce, cooked cleverly and carefully, with as much an eye on the brasserie as the gastropub.

The servings are generous and the prices aren't steep (the seafood platters are particularly good value). Stocks and sauces are properly made, a legacy perhaps of chef Sean Donovan's time with uber-chef Pierre Koffman at London's La Tante Claire and a long period with Paul Wilson at Radii and Botanical in Melbourne. The jus gras with our roast chicken was especially viscid and rich.

There's a minor focus on offal, including an earthy black pudding made with pig's head and apple. Fish is cooked with respect. Desserts - a bruleed lemon tart of cheek-sucking tartness, a silken chocolate marquise with roasted fig - are button-pushing delights.

Donovan runs the business with his brother-in-law, Greg Fee. The pair also own the Station Hotel in Footscray. The two pubs' shared qualities include a steak focus but the western hub doesn't have South Melbourne's lunch trade and after-work suit-swill traditions.

Advertisement

The Wayside is pleasant to spend time in without being stunningly attractive - the stark lighting in the dining room could do with attention. The tables are well spaced and there's a baby-change cubicle in the ladies' toilet. A small courtyard, a separate bar with its own all-day menu and a semi-secluded mezzanine add to the appeal.

The Wayside isn't revolutionary but it exudes integrity and it's got that ravishing R-word bigging it up.

Restaurant reviews, news and the hottest openings served to your inbox.

Sign up
Dani ValentDani Valent is a food writer and restaurant reviewer.

From our partners

Advertisement
Advertisement